Dissociation
by The Smoose
Summary: "Tony, please, I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said, her voice just this side of hysteria. She turned on her heel and bolted from the room, and for the first time in over fifteen years, Tony Stark was worried.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, so first and foremost, I owe you all an apology. For the time being, Razor's Edge is being withdrawn. I have literally no inspiration for it any more. I know how I want it to end, but the getting there isn't happening. When the urge hits me again, I will post it, but until then it's being taken down. I really hate to do it, but I have to.

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><p>There were many emotions that didn't even register in Tony Stark's vernacular. Emotions like embarrassment, and fear very rarely, if at all, ever affected him. One particular emotion he hadn't felt since he was twenty-one was worry. His company was earning him millions, Happy could see off any non-business threats, so he never had a reason to worry, and yet here he stood, feeling exactly that as he watched Pepper flitting around her office at Stark Enterprises. She'd been avoiding him all day too, and usually this wouldn't bother him because she often avoided him in order to get more work done –the work that he was supposed to be doing- but this wasn't like that. He'd done all the work she needed him to do, and as far as he could tell she hadn't gotten a great deal more work done than usual over the past few days. She'd come back on Monday after the weekend and just seemed…off. More distant. And she kept moving and not staying still for more than a few minutes as if she was trying to keep herself busy despite the lack of work. It was now Wednesday and he could count the number of conversations they'd had on one hand. She hadn't been to his house since Friday, preferring to e-mail him anything important, and the few times he had seen her, she'd been even more professional than usual, and a lot more skittish.<p>

So here he stood, forced to come into the office just to talk to her, and now that he stood here, he couldn't think of anything to say. 'Hey Pepper, why are you ignoring me and doing your job?' didn't seem to cover it. And she still hadn't noticed him. she usually had a sixth sense for him, but he'd been standing at the door for a good ten minutes, watching her fiddle with the items on her desk, a mere ten feet away, and nothing. He was very confused. More so when he realised that for the ten minutes he'd been standing watching her, she hadn't actually done anything. She was just staring at a picture frame on her desk.

Tony sighed and pushed himself off the door frame, resigning himself to leave her to it, but his sudden movement caught her eye and she jumped out of her skin, her eyes going wide and her expression going from one of complete dissociation to one of abject terror, and that really threw him.

"Pepper?" he stepped into the room and noticed she scooted back a little.

"Tony." Pepper gasped. "God, you scared me." She took a deep breath and her eyes seemed to flit around the room. She looked caged in.

"Yeah, I noticed." He said, voice low so as not to startle her. He walked further into the room and she visibly flinched. "You ok?"

"Sure." She said, rearranging her features to try and make the statement more believable.

"Are you?" Tony asked as he got to her desk.

Pepper gulped and stood up, gathering up some of her paperwork as she did so. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Tony watched her fumble with the papers. She didn't meet his eyes. "Well I don't know." He said. "You just seem a little off this week. Are you sick?"

She glanced up at him and hoisted the stack of papers up a little more. "I'm fine." She said, giving him an unconvincing smile. "Seriously. Just had a lot to…I've been busy today." She emphasised her point by nodding at the papers and waling around the desk.

"Pepper, wait a sec." Tony turned with her and grabbed her wrist gently.

Several things happened at once. As Tony's hand closed around Pepper's wrist, she gasped and he felt the muscles in her arm tense and he could physically see the rest of her body react. The papers fell from her grasp and scattered across the floor as she raised the hand holding them to her mouth.

"Jesus." Tony exclaimed, quickly letting go of her. "Pepper, what-"

"I have to go home." She interrupted him, backing away towards the door and clearly trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry, I don't feel very well."

"Pepper, what just happened?" Tony tried to follow her but she held her hands up.

"Tony, please, I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said, her voice just this side of hysteria. She turned on her heel and bolted from the room, and for the first time in over fifteen years, Tony Stark was worried.

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><p>This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. But it was the only idea he had. Pepper hadn't turned up that morning, and he hadn't heard a thing off her since the previous day when she practically fled from the building, so the only choice he had left was this, standing outside of her apartment and calling her house phone. He could hear the thing ringing on the other side of the door, her car was in the lot, and her cell was off, and if she didn't pick up the phone soon, he was going to have to break the damn door down. He hammered on it yet again, his knuckles becoming sore from constant contact. After waiting for another five minutes and still receiving nothing, he flipped his phone shut and stepped back, prepared to kick it in, when a thought stopped him. He bent down and lifted the mat – nothing. He lifted up the plan pot to the right of the mat – nothing. Sighing again, he looked around, trying to find any other hiding places and his gaze settled on the gable above the door. There was a small ledge built onto the front. He reached up and felt around for a few seconds and then – success! He felt a spare key and immediately brought it down, shoving it into the lock and opening the door.<p>

Pepper's apartment was quiet. Too quiet. He spotted her phone lying next to her purse on the coffee table. The blinds were drawn and the rest of the place looked dark.

"Pepper?" he called out. Silence. He closed the door and made his was slowly through the apartment, heading to what he thought was her bedroom when he heard something move behind the wall in front of him. He swallowed, preparing himself for a possible fight, and stepped around the doorway into the hall, immediately finding a baseball bat swinging at his head. He just about managed to get his arms up in time to deflect it, grabbing the weapon out of his assailant's hands and tossing it over his shoulder, drawing his fist back to counter-attack, but he stopped fast when he saw who it was.

"Pepper?"

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the next update! I'm glad you're finding this a good read, I wasn't so sure when I started it. Let's hope it continues.

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><p><em>Friday<em>

"Pepper?"

Pepper turned and grinned at the sight of the man jogging towards her. Continuing on her way, she waited for the man to catch up to her before speaking.

"Michael." She said, smirking. "What can I do for you?"

A tall, handsome young man who had come to Stark Enterprises as an intern and moved up to head of marketing, Michael Woods was the second most eligible bachelor after the boss man himself. And he wasn't a man whore. He had medium length, floppy blonde hair, the deepest blue eyes you've ever seen, and, if the rumours were to be believed, a body you could bounce a nickel off of. He'd recently made it a point of pursuing Pepper any way he could. He'd bought her lunch, sent her flowers, chocolates, gift certificates for day spas. He would not give up. He was sweet, sure, and handsome, but Pepper just didn't see that spark with him.

"Ah, how many directions could that question take?" Michael asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking along with her. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Just the one if you don't mind, Michael." She said. "I've got a lot to do and very little time in which to do it, so…"

"Have dinner with me tonight."

Pepper sighed and turned to him as they reached her office, folding her arms across her chest.

"Mike, we've talked about this."

"Not really." He protested. "I mean yeah, you've shot me down more times than I can count-"

"And yet you still don't give up." Pepper said, smiling at him.

Michael shrugged. "You never win if you give up." He said. Pepper shrugged and he smirked as he saw her resolve breaking. "Come on, just one date. I promise if you still want to puke at the sight of me afterwards, I'll never bother you again."

Pepper laughed. "I wouldn't go that far." She sighed as he pulled a puppy face and shook her head. "Fine. One date."

Michael beamed at her and stood up a little straighter. "Well alright, now we're making progress." He clapped his hands together. "Ok, I'll swing by your office after work, sound good?"

Pepper nodded, amused at his enthusiasm and waved him on his way. She spent the rest of the day with a bigger smile on her face than she would usually have, not that Tony noticed, but for once she wasn't bothered that he pretty much ignored all his meetings, preferring to mess around in his own office and causing her to pretty much be in two places at once, and when the clock hit five, she was starting to look forward to her date. Michael knocked on her office door at five past and poked his head around it, grinning broadly.

"Ready to rock and roll?" he asked after she beckoned him in.

Pepper nodded, shutting down her computer and gathering her things before stepping around her desk and joining him at the door.

"So where to, Mr Woods?" she asked him as he led her out of the building and down to the staff car park.

"Well," he started. "I was thinking about this quaint little French place not far from here. Very nice, fantastic food. The chef is actually French would you believe?" he chuckled as they reached his car and he opened the door for her. "Say, I've always wondered, what's Tony's fascination with Audi's? I mean, everyone's company car is an Audi, he's got two of them, three if you count the one he gets driven round in when the Rolls is 'sleeping'."

Pepper laughed and waited til he'd gotten into the car to reply. "We've only had Audi's since oh-six. Before that it was Mercedes. He basically just picks a supercar that he likes, buys himself the actual supercar and everyone else gets the top of the range 'public' car. If he could let everyone have a Bugatti, he would, but then there'd be a chance that someone could beat him in a race."

Michael smiled and nodded understandingly. "Well, can't blame him for that. I'd kick his ass." He winked at her and started the car, pulling out of his spot and setting off out of the car park towards the restaurant.

"I dunno." Pepper considered for a moment. "Tony is an excellent driver. He's got tactical driving certificates and whatnot."

Michael raised an eyebrow at her, checked his mirrors to make sure the road was clear and put his foot down, yanking on the handbrake as a corner approached and expertly drifted around it, keeping the car perfectly level and pulling out of it to straighten up and continue on his way. Pepper, who had grabbed the 'oh shit' handle and was clinging onto it for dear life stared at him with wide eyes, swallowing harshly.

"Ok," she croaked, gingerly letting go of the handle and clearing her throat. "Point taken."

Michael laughed and reached over to take her hand. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Pepper smiled and allowed him to keep hold of her hand until they got to the restaurant. Once again he was a perfect gentleman and opened the door for her, escorting her through the door with her hand tucked in the crook of his elbow, pulling her chair out for her and not batting an eyelid when she had a second glass of wine, sticking firmly to water himself. They had a nice time, and Pepper was actually surprised that they managed to find things to talk about other than work. It got to the point that they were so caught up in one another that neither noticed when the restaurant was about to close until one of the waiters reminded them. They made their way back out to Michael's car, laughing and joking, Pepper clinging to Michael's arm in a much less lady-like way than she had on the way in.

Michael did well. He got a kiss on the cheek in the car when he stopped outside Pepper's apartment, he got a hand-hold on the way up to her door, and as she fumbled for her keys, he dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers. Pepper was a little shocked, and slightly tipsy, and realising where he thought this might be going, she pulled back.

"Thank you for a lovely evening." She said with a smile, noticing his gaze was still on her lips.

"Mmm, the evening's not over yet." He said huskily, moving in for another kiss. Pepper raised her hand to his chest and pushed back slightly, leaning into the door at the same time.

"It is for me." She said, trying to make her voice sound more authoritative.

Michael smirked at her. "C'mon Pep, let loose a little." He said, leaning in and kissing her firmly. The back of her head connected with the door and she squeaked, pushing him again. Eventually he pulled back and she set her jaw.

"Michael, we've had a nice night, don't ruin it."

He raised an eyebrow and pressed a little closer to her, trailing a finger along the arm she had against his chest.

"Playing hard to get are we?" he grabbed her arm and wrenched it away from him, pressing her full on against the door and dipping his head to her neck. Pepper struggled against him and managed to get her arm free and slap him in the face. He stumbled sideways, not expecting the slap, and she immediately turned and jammed her key into the lock, frantically trying to open the door. Michael cursed and flew at her again, shoving her against the door and wrapping his hand around her neck from the back, pressing her cheek against the door and breathing in her ear. Pepper cried out, scared as hell and still squirming. Michael grabbed her arm and twisted it around her back, making her cry out again.

"Open the door." He growled into her ear.

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><p><em>Now<em>

"Pepper?" Tony lowered his fist and squinted through the dim light at her. The first thing he noticed was the look of sheer terror on her face as she backed away from him. He took a step forward and held his hand out, but her eyes widened and she stumbled backwards into what he assumed was her bedroom, slamming the door shut. Tony rushed up to it and knocked. "Pepper, Pep, are you ok?"

Silence.

He tried a few more times but all he could hear was what worryingly sounded like crying from behind the door.

"Pepper, honey, please come out." He said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm worried about you."

Still nothing.

Tony sighed and let his hand brush down the door, backing off and heading into the lounge. Clearly he was going to have to wait until she was ready to come out, for whatever reason, so he sat down on the couch and laid back, prepared to wait for as long as it took to get some answers.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony jerked awake to the sound of a door shutting. He looked around, quickly realising he was still in Pepper's apartment and stood up, turning towards the hallway to find Pepper standing there and staring at him. she was wearing a flannel pyjama shirt with matching pants, her hair was a mess, she wasn't wearing makeup and her eyes were rubbed raw, completely red, as if she hadn't stopped crying since he'd last seen her. He swallowed and shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly, standing as still as possible in case he startled her again.

"I'm sorry if I scared you before." He said quietly. "I just…I thought you were in trouble when you didn't answer the phone or the door, so-"

"So you thought you'd break into my home." Pepper said, staring at him with emotionless eyes.

Tony shuffled on his feet. "Well…yeah. I was worried about you, I still am." He stepped towards her and her eyes widened. "Pepper, what the hell happened to you?"

She shook her head and closer her eyes. "Nothing. Nothing happened, ok? Please, just leave."

She turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving a bewildered Tony standing in the middle of her lounge. He followed her after a moment and stood in the doorway.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong." He said. "You've been weird since Monday, and don't even get me started on what happened at the office."

Pepper sniffed and clicked the coffee maker on, her back to him. "I'm fine-"

"No, you're not." Tony sighed, starting to get annoyed. "Was there an accident or something? Was it your Mom?"

She was still ignoring him, so he stepped closer, reaching his hand out to gently grasp her shoulder. Just as it had been at the office, the reaction was instantaneous. Her whole body went rigid and she jerked away from him, trying to dodge around him. Tony managed to react in time to pin her against the counter top, hands at her sides on the surface. Pepper gasped and frantically started struggling, trying to get away from him.

"Hey, Pepper-"

"No!" she shoved at him, tears flowing freely from her arms. Tony tried to grab her arms but she smacked his hands away, slapping him in the face repeatedly. He finally managed to get a hold of her wrists but she still struggled.

"Pepper, stop, it's me, it's Tony. Hey!" she finally stopped, staring up at him with eyes like saucers, breathing heavily and clearly scared out of her mind. "Pepper, I'm not going to hurt you." He stressed. Her eyes flitted between his and she seemed to realise who he was. She sagged against the counter taking shaky, shallow breaths, tears slipping down her cheeks. Tony let go of her wrists and pulled her to him in a hug, wrapping his arms around her. She was shaking like a leaf. "Hey, shh, it's ok, you're safe with me, calm down."

"N-no…" Pepper mumbled, sobbing against his chest.

Tony ran his hands up and down her back, closing his eyes, and he honestly didn't know which of the two of them was the most terrified.

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><p>"Open the door." Michael hissed against Pepper's ear.<p>

She whimpered and slowly unlocked the door. Michael immediately shoved her through the door, slamming it shut behind him. Pepper stumbled forwards, catching herself on the couch and turning to face him. He was breathing heavily, staring at her with wild eyes.

"Now." He said softly. "That was a little rude, wasn't it? Slapping me?" he rubbed his cheek and smirked. "But I think I can forgive you."

Pepper jumped to her feet and ran for the bedroom, but Michael was one step ahead of her and grabbed her around the waist, dragging her back to the couch and throwing her down onto it. She cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Please, let me go." She begged. Michael laughed, shrugging his jacket off and undoing his belt.

"You're not going anywhere."

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><p>Tony set a mug of coffee down in front of Pepper and sat next to her at the small island in the centre of the kitchen. Pepper wrapped both her hands around it but didn't drink, simply staring into the murky brown depths. Tony took a sip from his own mug, preferring to wait for her to speak rather than run the risk of upsetting her again.<p>

"It happened on Friday." She said finally. Tony froze and stared at her, mug half way to his mouth. "I, um…Michael Woods from Marketing, he'd been hitting on me for a while and I'd kept shooting him down, but I finally caved, just to get him to quit bugging me." She flashed him a quick smile. "So we went to this French restaurant, and we were having a really good time, and I thought I'd misjudged him, and then…then he drove me home…"

"Pep." Tony interrupted, seeing her getting upset again. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

Pepper shook her head, wiping her eyes. "I need to." She whispered.

Tony nodded and gingerly reached out to take her hand. Taking a deep breath, Pepper continued.

"He drove me home and walked me up to the door, and then he kissed me but he was a little rough, so I pushed him away, but he thought I was just playing hard to get." She closed her eyes and her voice faltered. Tony squeezed her fingers gently, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "Uh…he kissed me again, so I slapped him, and then I tried to get inside, but…he slammed me up against the door and made me open it. I tried to get away but he grabbed me and threw me down on the couch and then…he…"

She closed her eyes again and covered her mouth with her other hand as a sob broke free. Tony's heart shot into his throat as she said the words he'd suspected.

"He raped me."

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><p>Michael stood up and pulled his pants back up, fastening his belt with a satisfied sight, gazing over Pepper's frozen form on the couch. She was staring straight at the wall, fists drawn up to her chest as Michael shook his head, grinning to himself.<p>

"You know, for someone who was acting like they didn't want this, it sure felt like you enjoyed yourself." He laughed. Pepper closed her eyes tightly and curled into a ball, shivering slightly as she tried to quell the feeling of nausea that had started to rise in her stomach. Michael finished dressing and bent to pick up his jacket, checking his watch. "I gotta go. We should do this again, say next weekend?"

Pepper said nothing and had to stifle a sob as Michael pressed a kiss to her cheek before leaving. As the front door closed, she bolted to the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet before collapsing against the bathtub, sobbing heavily.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this has taken so long! I was planning to do it while I was at my Dad's for the week, but I left my laptop at home, which was three hundred miles away, and then I said to myself I'd do it last week, but I was scared shitless by the riots. Forgive me?

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><p>It had taken Tony nearly two hours to get Pepper to calm down enough to get some sleep, and even then he'd only managed it by telling her he would be right outside the door if she needed him. He knocked softly on the door around dinner time, carrying a tray of food. When she didn't respond, he opened the door anyway and found her asleep, curled into a ball with the duvet tugged almost all the way over her head. Tony sighed and placed the tray on her bedside table, turning to leave.<p>

"Thank you." Pepper mumbled softly to his retreating back. Tony span around and saw her eyes were open and she was smiling at him.

He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, well, ya know, you gotta eat." he shrugged and flashed her a smile. "And I mean that, you need to eat, so get to it."

Pepper snorted softly and eased herself up, grabbing the tray. "Yes boss." She leant back against the headrest and began eating. Tony sighed with relief.

"Do you…I mean…how do you feel?" he asked softly. He was finding it extremely difficult to phrase things the right way, everything he was thinking of saying sounded somehow crass in his head.

Pepper swallowed the bite she'd taken and nodded, trying to add conviction to her words. "Better. A lot better. I should be back to work by Monday."

Tony winced. He hadn't meant it like that, and he told her so. "I didn't mean that because I need you back at work. I mean I do need you, but…fuck sake. Pepper, what you've been through is traumatic, you need to rest. Screw work, just…rest. And you need to go to the hospital."

Pepper raised her eyebrows. "Uh, hell no. I am not making this any more public than it already is." she focussed on her dinner again, ignoring him.

But Tony wasn't one to be ignored. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, facing her. "Pepper, you were…you have no way of knowing if the guy is clean, and you need to at least get a morning after pill or something, and obviously then we go to the police-"

"No." she said, fixing him with her best 'do-not-argue-with-me' stare.

"What?" Tony furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean I am not going to the police about this." She snapped. "I'll get a morning after pill from my doctor, but that's it."

Tony shook his head in bewilderment. "Pepper…you can't do that. You need to get this prick arrested!"

"No!" Pepper threw down her knife and fork and stared at him again. "Don't you understand? I don't want people to know about this. How do you think this is going to affect my career?"

"You're worried about your career?" Tony was getting more confused by the second. "Pepper, you work for me! I'm not going to treat you any differently!"

"You already are!" Pepper's eyes were becoming red. "You already are, Tony. You're making me dinner and giving me fucking advice. Everything between me and you has already changed because of what happened and I don't want it to go any further, alright?" a tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "I think you should leave."

"Hell no." he said instantly. "I'm not going anywhere until you're back on your feet."

"Back on my feet?" she let out a laugh. "And when exactly do you think that is going to be, huh? This is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, Tony, but the only way I can try and move on is if people don't keep treating me like I'm made of fucking glass!"

Tony stared at her. He'd never seen Pepper this angry. Pissed off, sure, that was a common emotion when you worked for him, but she was livid with him, and he was trying to help her. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to argue again, but she held up her hand.

"Just leave." She whispered. "Thank you for everything, but I just need you to leave me alone."

After a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, Tony looked away, standing up slowly and making his way quietly out of her bedroom, pausing in the doorway.

"Call me if you need anything." He said before closing her door and heading out of the house.

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><p>Michael watched as Tony jogged down the steps from Pepper's apartment and into his car, pausing for a moment before speeding away. What the hell was that asshole doing in his girlfriend's apartment? Michael shook his head and exited his car. The only way he was going to get a straight answer was to talk to Pepper, so he climbed the stairs two at a time, headed towards her front door and knocked on it, tapping his foot impatiently. She wouldn't cheat on him, would she? No, of course not.<p>

A few seconds passed and she still hadn't answered, so he knocked again. "Pepper? Honey, you there?" he knelt down and pocked open her mail box, peering into the lounge. Across the room, he saw her bedroom door slam shut. Anger ripped through him straight away and he stood up, slamming his fist against her door. "Pepper! Pepper, open this door right now!" When she still didn't answer, he looked around to check that no one was watching him, stepped back, and kicked the door. It flung open immediately, the wooden frame splintering and flying into the apartment.

Michael looked around, spotting the two coffee cups on the kitchen island before stalking towards Pepper's bedroom door and trying the handle. It didn't budge.

"Pepper, you open this door!" Michael yelled. "I know that bastard was here, you can't hide from me forever sweetheart!"

From inside the room, Pepper sobbed. She'd managed to lodge a chair underneath the door handle and was sitting on the floor on the other side of her bed, her knees curled up to her chest in fright. She heard Michael hammering against the door, and then the sickening movement of the chair scraping across the floor as it shifted against his incessant attempts to gain entry. She looked around, trying to find a weapon or something, but she spotted her phone lying on the bedside table. She'd just got to her feet to grab it when something on the chair snapped and Michael barged his way into the room.

They stared at one another for a few seconds, and then Pepper lunged across the bed for her phone.


	5. Chapter 5

So heartbreak makes it easier to write apparently! At least something good came out of it. This chapter is for Eleni because she's an awesome distraction and kicked my ass about writing again.

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><p>Tony found it extremely hard to concentrate on anything when he got home. He kept thinking about Pepper, wondering how the hell he was going to convince her to go to the police. That was the only course of action she could take, it was clear to him. She needed to get over this and one way of doing that was to make sure the bastard was behind bars. Tony had already put the paperwork through to ensure that he was fired and told Jarvis to block any call that wasn't Pepper. Work could wait for one day, she was more important.<p>

"Jarvis, any more news on locating this bastard?" he asked his AI. He'd been working since the previous night to try and find Michael after the office had told him he hadn't been to work for three days. He'd been waiting for Pepper to call him, since he got home the previous night, and he was physically restraining himself from calling her.

"Negative, sir." Jarvis said. "Mr. Woods's cellular phone is unavailable to trace and he does not own a company car."

Tony sighed and scratched his head. "Ok, well I want you to do a full background check on him. If there's something to be found, I am gonna kick someone's ass at HR."

"Sir, doing a remote background check without the explicit permission of the law authority-"

"I know the risks, Jarvis." Tony snapped. "But I built you to be able to do all sorts of things without getting noticed, this is one of them."

Jarvis went quiet, a sure sign that he was busy doing as Tony had asked, all the while Tony was staring daggers at his phone, willing it to ring. So when it did, he jumped out of his skin, but his hand shot out immediately, but not quick enough because although it was Pepper that had called, it had only rang once. Tony flipped it open and quickly dialled her number, but got nothing but a dial tone and a service message.

"That wasn't accidental." He said. "Jarvis! You should be done by now!"

"Apologies, sir." The British voice said. "I'm re-checking my information. You're certain that I should be searching for a Mr Michael Gregory Woods?"

Tony rolled his eyes as he tried to dial Pepper's number again, cursing when he met the same result. "Yes, I'm sure. What's the problem?"

Jarvis printed out a sheet of paper for Tony to read while he spoke. "I regret to inform you, sir, that Michael Gregory Woods died in 1998."

Tony snatched the paper up and skimmed over it, shaking his head. "That's not possible. He's alive, Jarvis. Check the employment records."

"That's why I was double checking my results, sir." Jarvis said. "But I still can't make sense of it. Michael Woods was imprisoned for raping and murdering three women in 1998, served four years of a life sentence and died of heart failure. I even have the coroner's report and a body identification document signed by his brother."

Jarvis printed out the documents as he spoke and Tony stared at them, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"How is he doing this, Jarvis?" he asked, though not really expecting an answer and cursing when he still couldn't get through to Pepper. "Dammit! Ok, keep searching, I'm going back to Pepper's place to see if she's...

He stopped in the midst of picking up his jacket and a light bulb went off inside his head. "Jarvis, you said he had a brother?"

"Yes, sir." Jarvis responded. "His only living relative, Mark Harry Woods."

Tony quickly pulled his jacket on and rushed out of the workshop, still talking to his AI. "Did the coroner's report have any discrepancies with our records in terms of distinguishing marks on the body?"

"Yes, sir. The coroner's report states there was a scar on the body's abdomen from an Appendectomy, coinciding with a lack of appendix during the autopsy, yet our records show no such scarring on Mr Woods' body."

Cursing, Tony rushed out to his car and sped off towards Pepper's apartment, terrified as to what he was going to find.

* * *

><p>Michael lunged for the phone at the same time Pepper did, but this was exactly what she was hoping for. Instead of trying to grab the phone, she dug her nails as hard as she could into Michael's forearm, drawing blood as she scratched him and bringing her knee up as hard as she could into his groin. He went down like a sack of potatoes with a grunt and without looking back, Pepper ran, faster than she could ever remember doing in her life. She managed to speed out of the broken front door and down the stairs towards the car park before she realised she was stuck. Her keys, along with her actual clothing, were upstairs. All she could do as she tried every single car in the lot was pray that someone was stupid enough to leave their keys in their car. Of course, this was hopeless, and when she reached the end of the lot and found a concrete wall, she hunkered down behind the last car, trying to calm down her hysteric breathing. She heard footsteps and hollow, angry breathing, and then Michael's voice.<p>

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." He growled, walking slowly forwards through the lot. Pepper covered her mouth to stop a sob escaping and Michael chuckled. "I know you're down here, sweetheart. You can't run from me. I'm going to get you. If you come out, I'll make it good for you."

Finally, she could take no more, and with a burst of energy, she made a run for it, jumping out from behind the car and sprinting as fast as she could towards the other end of the lot. Unfortunately, Michael was faster. He dashed forwards and caught her around the waist, eliciting a shriek from her mouth which was quickly covered by his large hand.

"I'll give you some credit, Pep." He mumbled, his mouth pressed to her ear. "You've got spirit. I can't wait to break it."

He kissed her cheek and then dragged her towards one of the cars, popping the truck and throwing her inside before getting into the driver's seat and speeding off.

* * *

><p>"Fuck!" Tony yelled and kicked at the coffee table in Pepper's abandoned apartment. She was gone, Michael had taken her. He was too late and she was going to pay the price. He pulled out his phone and activated Jarvis. "Get me the brother's address, Jarvis. Now!"<p>

He scouted around for a few more seconds before storming out of the building and back to his car, Jarvis beaming directions to Mark's house through the inbuilt unit in the car.

"Jarvis, get the cops there." He barked as he swerved around traffic, foot welded to the floor. "Because if I get there first, he's dead."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, Michael was dragging Pepper by the arm into his house, slamming the door and locking it behind them.<p>

"Now, isn't this cosy?" he asked, tossing the keys into a bowl on the table by the door, as if he hadn't just kidnapped her. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Go to hell." Pepper hissed, eyes casting around for an escape route but finding nothing. Michael tutted, an amused smirk playing on his lips as he stepped forward.

"That's not very nice is it?" he asked, chuckling as she matched his steps with backwards ones until she was against a wall. "I'm just trying to be a good host."

"You're a bastard." Pepper spat, setting her jaw and raising her chin. She would keep hold of her dignity this time. She wouldn't let him know what he was doing to her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of noise or movement. "You know Tony's on the way here right now, don't you? You think he's going to let you get away with this?"

Michael's smile dropped a little but he quickly pulled it back and leant forwards, pulling his jacket open a little to reveal a holstered gun.

"I'm counting on it." He hissed, anger flaring in his eyes. "You think you can go behind my back with that scum bag and he won't be punished for it? You think you're gonna get off scot free?" he brought his hand sharply up to her cheek sending her flying into the wall, her head connecting sharply with the skirting board. "No, you're going to watch him die. Slowly. You're gonna learn your lesson, and then we'll go where no one can find us."

Pepper stared up at him, her vision going blurry as a small trickle of blood flowed from a wound where her head had hit the wall. She barely registered him tying her hands up in front of her before he turned the lights out and she blacked out, her last conscious thought hoping that Tony at least had the sense to wait for backup.

* * *

><p>He couldn't see any sign of police as he skidded to a halt outside Michael's house, but he threw himself out of the car anyway and sprinted to the front door, launching himself at it and hitting the wood hard with his shoulder. Again and again he threw himself at the door, hitting and kicking at it until finally the frame splintered and breached, allowing Tony entrance to the dimly lit building.<p>

"Pepper?" he hissed, stepping forwards. He heard a small groan come from his left and immediately stalked towards it, squinting in the dark until he saw the feint outline of Pepper's body on the floor, propped up against the wall. He dropped to his knees and cupped her face in his hands, smoothing her hair back and gasping when he felt a hot, sticky trail of blood seeping from a wound in her head. "Jesus, Pepper, we gotta get you out of here."

Pepper whimpered and mumbled something that Tony didn't catch before she fell unconscious again. Tony shook her shoulders and inclined his head. "Pep, what? Pepper?"

"She said 'gun'" Michael said, and Tony just had time to spin around and stand up before a bullet caught his shoulder and sent him tumbling back onto the floor. The light came on and Michael stepped into the room, chuckling to himself, a pleased look on his face. "I figured you'd work it out." He said with a sigh. "I bet you had your AI do a background check, huh?"

Tony grunted from his position on the floor, grasping at his shoulder which was pouring blood. He gazed up at the other man, registering his gun and the slightly crazed look in his eyes and he nodded. "You're not Michael. You're Mark." He panted. "You...you framed your brother."

Before Tony could blink, Michael – or Mark, had sent another bullet through Tony's opposing thigh, bringing a howl of pain from his lips.

"I loved my brother!" he yelled at Tony, spit flying from his mouth. "I loved him, and he loved me. He took my place. He...he said he had less to lose. I didn't know what it meant at the time, I was only sixteen at the time, and he was twenty, but we looked so much alike. We could have been twins if not for the age gap." Mark fidgeted with his gun and smiled sadly. "He fessed up to what I'd done, he went to jail for me. He gave me a second chance to have a life, made me swear to do right, and he died. He had a heart problem. I didn't know."

"Why the hell did you pretend to be Michael?" Tony grunted, trying to stem the flow of blood from both wounds. "You could have gotten away with it forever without this."

Mark shook his head and walked around Tony to Pepper, hauling her to her feet and dragging her over to a chair facing Tony, propping her up as she came around. "There, now she can see the show." He said before answering Tony's question. "I wanted to clear his name." He said. "See...I'm not right up here." He tapped his head with the gun and smiled. "No one would let me confess. I had to do something major to get people to believe me. Don't you see? This was the only way. But you got in my way. I could have done this with Pepper, but you had to get between us. So now you have to-." He stopped talking as the sound of sirens came from the distance. Mark dashed over to the window and cursed as he saw police cars speeding towards the house. He turned to Tony, glaring at him. "You called the cops?" he hissed. "Not cool, man. We were gonna have fun and now you've ruined it."

Tony could only lay there and watch as Mark stalked over to him, kneeling down practically on Tony's chest and pressing the gun hard into his cheek, his free hand around his throat. Tony fought to get out of Mark's grip but with the amount of blood he'd lost it was futile. Mark grinned and shook his head, pulling back the hammer of the gun.

"I want the last thoughts that float through your brain to be that you couldn't save her." He whispered. "I can probably have her once more before the cops get here."

"Sick fuck!" Tony spat, glaring at Mark. "I'll fucking kill you."

Mark laughed and sighed. "Goodnight, Tony."

"No!"

The sound of Pepper's voice startled Mark, but not as much as her full weight being thrown at him, knocking him off balance and sending him flying into the wall. Pepper had woken full and jumped at Mark, and in the chaos, the gun had gone skidding across the floor. Pepper didn't waste any time, stumbling after it and grabbing it in her bound hands, pointing it shakily at Mark as he righted himself, smirking at her.

"You gonna shoot me, Pep?" he asked, laughing a little. "Nah, you don't have it in you. You don't have the guts, just like you didn't have the guts to stop me taking you. You liked it, didn't you? That's why-"

The gun went off, and Tony thought Pepper had missed as Mark still stood there, until a band of red started spreading along his white shirt. Another pop sent another bullet into Mark's chest and he crashed to his knees, followed by another shot and another. Pepper emptied what was left of the magazine into Mark's chest, staring at his dying body and still pulling the trigger though there were no more bullets to fire. Mark coughed once, looked at Tony, and the insanity left his eyes.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Pepper who was still in the same position, firing an empty gun and tears streaming down her cheeks. Somehow, he managed to drag himself across the wooden floor, leaving a trail of blood as he crawled towards her and laid his bloodied hand over hers, breathing ragged.

"It's ok, Pep." He whispered as cars screeched to a halt outside of the house. "It's over. You did it."

His words mixed with the sounds of shouting cops seemed to jog Pepper out of her trance and she dropped the gun, gasping at the sight of Tony's injured state.

"Oh...oh my God, Tony!" she quickly pressed her hand to his thigh wound which was bleeding heaviest and Tony groaned in pain.

"I'm ok." He lied, his face white. A dozen police officers stormed into the house and a few secured both Mark's body and the rest of the house while others attended to Tony, gently dragging Pepper away and untying her hands.

"Don't you dare die!" she snapped, and Tony chuckled, coughing slightly as paramedics loaded him onto a gurney.

"I'll...try my best." He mumbled before blackness engulfed him.

* * *

><p>Tony jerked awake from the worst nightmare he'd ever had. It had seemed so real. Even the pain had seemed real. It still did...it hadn't been a dream.<p>

He was in a hospital bed. His shoulder and leg were throbbing all too realistically, and he could practically smell the gunpowder still. He groaned and tried to sit up, but a hand shot out of the darkness and lightly touched his good shoulder.

"If you try to get out of bed, I'll finish off the job that he started." Pepper mumbled, and Tony smiled, easing back down and grabbing hold of her hand.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He whispered, coughing slightly. "You ok?"

Pepper's other hand moved and flicked on the small light by the side of Tony's bed, revealing her fully dressed and sitting in possibly the least comfy looking chair he'd ever seen, but she nodded and smiled a little at him.

"As good as can be expected." She said. "How about you?"

Tony made a face and then winked. "I've still got all the bits of myself I started the day with, so I'd say result." He said. "And I didn't die, so points for keeping my promise please."

Pepper tutted and squeezed his hand. "You didn't promise, you said you'd try your best, that's not the same."

"Now why doesn't that excuse work when you want me to attend meetings?"

"Tony..."

"Ok, alright." He chuckled and smiled up at her. "Some day, huh?"

She nodded again and shrugged. "He's dead now, it's in the past."

Tony studied her face for a second before raising her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. "Well, I'm gonna be with you every single day until you actually believe that." He said softly. "And that is a promise."

Pepper smiled a little wider and stood up, waiting until Tony had scooted over a little before climbing under the covers next to him and snuggling close, wrapping Tony's arm around her.

It was going to be a hard road to go down, but Pepper was sure that with Tony's help, she'd make it. They'd come out fighting, just like they always did.

The End.


End file.
